Just a Little Crush
by Magali1
Summary: Gracie has a little crush which irks Tami and amuses Eric. Fluff piece. Mostly Tami POV. Tami, Eric, Gracie, Tim, Tyra, Julie, Matt, and Lyla all have small roles. Short Multi-Chapter. In Progress.
1. The Drawing

**A/N: **This is a cute little multi-chapter fluff piece I've been slowly working on as I finish up 'Chances Are'. I'm on the second to last chapter for that fic but I want to get everything finished on it before I post, so don't worry. Trying to end a 20+ chapter fic in only two more installments is a little difficult for me. In any case, here's something fluffy and still related to Tim (because I can't branch out, sorry about that to non-Tim lovers or non-Tim/Lyla lovers.) But it's different. Enjoy :)

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 1: The Drawing<span>**

"Gracie sweetheart, what are you drawing there so intensely?" Tami finished drying a dish, setting it up on the stack of other clean ones in the cabinet, slowly closing the door so the glass-front didn't rattle too loudly. She loved their old house in the Philly suburbs, but man it made noise. She walked over to Gracie, who hadn't answered her, leaning over her shoulder to study the large red construction paper card she was decorating. "That's lovely sweetheart, who's the card for?"

"It's a birthday card."

"Well that's nice." She wasn't sure whose birthday was coming up, but who knew. Gracie was six. She had a new friend just about every single day. Maybe it was one of them. Just in case she had to suddenly go running to grab a new Barbie doll or something for a last-minute party, she consulted the Calendar. It was a large Post-It note calendar on the fridge, which documented just about every second of their lives. She tapped the most recent birthday. "Is it that little friend of yours, Ashley? Her birthday?"

"No. It's a boy."

Oh. Oh my. She turned her head slowly, staring straight at Gracie Belle. "What do you mean a boy?" she demanded. Gracie didn't have little friends who were boys. She walked back over to the table, sitting down beside her daughter. She turned the card towards her. There was a girl on the front, what she assumed was Gracie, with yellow crayon for the hair. She glanced back at her. "Who is the card for sweetie?"

Gracie picked up a blue crayon, beginning to write in the name on the front. "How do you spell Tim? Is that with an 'I' or an 'E'?"

"I," she said, squinting at her daughter. She cleared her throat. "Who Tim? What Tim?"

Her daughter turned her head, staring at her with clear blue eyes. Her blonde hair was in pigtails, sticking up on her head. The look she got was not the angelic, innocent one she usually was on the receiving end of. She almost wanted to see it was a 'duh' exasperated look that she used to get, and occasionally still did get, from Julie in her teenage years. "Tim Riggins. Duh, Mommy."

"Don't talk to me like that," she warned. She cocked her head, clearing her throat. "Honey, um, Tim is in Texas and he's much, much older than you…how did you know it was his birthday?"

"I wrote it down. I asked."

"You asked?"

"I called."

Oh, my. She blinked. "You called? On the phone?"

"Daddy's phone."

"Daddy's phone," she repeated. She rotated her gaze from Gracie right to her husband, who had just walked in the door. Her voice was tight. "Eric, did you let Gracie use your phone to call Tim Riggins?" Eric stopped in his tracks. He took one step backwards, but she held her finger up. "Don't run away." She stood up, leaving Gracie to her card, marching him into the living room. "You let her call Tim Riggins? Why?" she hissed.

He shrugged. "She's obsessed with birthdays, you know that."

"I do so know that, but why does she want to talk to him? Why would he want to talk to her?"

"I don't know, I was talking to him the other day, she wanted to know who he was, I told her, she remembered he gave her that t-shirt the last time we were in Dillon because she fell in the mud and got her dress all dirty, she's got a little crush on the guy, it's cute," he laughed. He waved his hand. "You're overreacting."

Maybe she was overreacting. It was just unexpected, how matter-of-fact Gracie Belle was about the whole thing. She shook her head, waving her hands and agreeing with him. "Fine. I'll put the thing in the mail tomorrow when she's done with it." She frowned, looking over at him. "So I mean, what prompted this with her?"

He shrugged, opening up his bag and removed a few binders of plays. "I don't know, she heard me talking, wanted to know. Simple as that. I told you, she remembers. It's probably a hero thing."

"Probably." She looked over at Gracie as she walked into the room, holding her card. "Are you done with that now sweetie?"

"Yup. It's a Happy Birthday card for Tim Riggins."

"Well let's see," Eric said, taking the card and held it up. He frowned. "That's a lot of hearts."

"I want him to know I love him."

Oh my. She arched an eyebrow. "You love him?"

"He gave me a t-shirt. Mine was dirty." She held up one of her stuffed animals, sitting on the couch. "And this one too."

Oh yeah, that's right. Gracie had fallen in the mud back near Tim's house. She'd also stepped on a nail, wandering around in her bare feet after they'd warned her repeatedly to keep her shoes on. After she'd gotten a tetanus shot, Tim had given her a stuffed Dillon Panther to keep her from crying from the residual pain in her arm and foot. "Yes, he did," Tami told her. She frowned a little. Little kids did latch on to some adults sometimes. Especially little girls. She cocked her head. It was a hero thing. "He gave you those things but sweetie he lives far away."

"When can we see him again?"

Even Eric was starting to notice this was odd. "The next time we go to see Grandma Lorraine."

"Oh, okay." She walked over to the TV, taking the remote. "Can I watch TV now?"

"Only an hour," Tami said. She took the card, setting it into a large envelope. She cleared her throat. "Gracie do you want to address this to Mr. Tim?"

"Okay!" She hurried back into the kitchen, taking the pen. With her tongue sticking out from between her teeth, she carefully copied the letters from the Post-It note that Tami had set beside her. She read aloud as she did it. "25 West Sycamore…Highway…" she drawled. She frowned at one word. "Um…Ru…Rur…"

"Rural Route," Tami said. Gracie repeated it back. "Good girl."

"What's that?"

"It's so the post office knows where it is. It means Uncle Tim lives in a place where the mailman doesn't go, so he has to get his mail only a couple of times a week in a certain place," Eric explained. He took the envelope, setting it in the tray with the rest of the things they had to take on errands. He pointed to the TV. "You're wasting your TV time. Get on there."

"Oh no," Gracie exclaimed, hurrying back to the living room to finish up her TV time.

He chuckled, wrapping his arm around Tami. "Relax. It's just a cute crush. At least she's being nice and thinking of another person."

Yeah. That was something. She kissed his cheek. "I'm going to get dinner started."

"What're we having."

She picked up the phone, hitting the buttons. "Chinese."

"You get on that. You're going to be slaving away."

She chuckled, setting the phone against her ear. "I'm really breaking my back calling this in." She waved her hand at him. "Now go find stuff to set the table, we're at least going to eat like a normal family." Even though somewhere I swear we are anything but normal, she thought, her eyes narrowed on Gracie, who was sitting in place and singing along to whatever program was playing on the TV.


	2. The Invitation

**2. The Invitation**

"Mommy can you check this?"

Tami slipped her glasses off, squinting slightly as her eyes focused from reading up close to far away, as Gracie set another art project in front of her. "Oh sweetie this is lovely, can we put it on the fridge with your other artwork?"

"No, this is for someone."

Uh-oh. I know what that means. Again. She sighed, setting the picture down of a few horses and a couple of dogs in front of a house. Or maybe it was a barn, she couldn't tell. She closed her eyes, steeling herself as she asked, her voice tight and her mind telling her to prepare for the answer. "Gracie is this for Tim Riggins again?"

And it was. "We're going to see him in Texas, I want to give him a present." Gracie tapped her finger on the paper, grinning up at her. Angel, she thought, arching an eyebrow. With a bit of devil in her little heart. "This is the present."

I'm sure it's a great present, but really? The birthday card had been cute, Tim had even called to thank her for it, but then he'd asked both of them what that was all about. They'd said it was just a little crush it would go away on its own, he was fine with that. Then she sent a couple more pictures. Tim was fine. Now she'd asked to call to talk to him, which he'd thought was a little odd, so did she and Eric. This was just going over the top. It had to stop. Especially before Tim stopped communicating with them ever again. She leaned forward. "Gracie, sweetie," she said, drawing her daughter closer to her. She sighed. She shook her head, closing her eyes. Be nice Tami. Her voice softened and she opened her eyes, fixing on her daughter, who was looking away. "Uncle Tim is a friend, okay? I just don't know if you should keep sending all your pictures to him. Don't you want some for your room?"

She was already shaking her head negative. "No. I want to give this one to him." She blinked up, eyes bright blue and wide. Angelic again. "Mommy."

Oh no. I'm not going to like this question am I? She sighed. Why do I indulge her so much? "Yes?"

"Does Uncle Tim have a wife?"

Uncle Tim has…visitors, she thought, closing her eyes and shaking her head. Just answer it Tami. "No honey, Uncle Tim doesn't have a wife."

"Does he have a girlfriend?"

"He probably does."

"But no?"

Oh my God, you are too young to be into this sort of thing, she thought, sighing and rolled her eyes towards Gracie, who looked so sweet and innocent that she couldn't help it. She knew it was wrong but…hell. Every girl had their little crush. It was just a crush, wasn't like it was real or anything. Heck, she was in love with about twenty boys by the time she knew what love even was. She just didn't want to encourage it because Gracie was going to get upset otherwise. "Well…I can find out." Oh my God, Tami Taylor, what are you doing?

Her little girl's eyes lit up. "Okay! I'll put this in the mail."

"You do that." She sighed, rolling her eyes and glanced up when Eric walked into her office. She picked up her pen, returning to the budget reports for her department. This would be entertaining. Especially because he looked like it had been a hard day for him. "I need you to call Tim Riggins and find out if he has a girlfriend."

"Are we so desperate to marry off Gracie we're going that route?"

He found this too funny, she thought, glaring at him while he grinned. "She's six Eric, let her have her fun, she's wondering. We're going down there next weekend, she can…see for herself that Tim's not six, he's grown-up, and he can let her down easy, I'll talk to him." She turned the page of her budget report, murmuring as her mind went back to facts and figures. "You have to prepare him too. Has he ever had a little girl crush on him?"

"I'm sure he has." Eric snorted. "A lot of girls."

"All he has are nephews. He doesn't understand girls."

Eric narrowed his eyes. "But…he's Riggins."

Tami looked up. That didn't mean anything. And she couldn't believe she had to school him on this. "Honey, just because he's been with about seventy percent of the girls in Dillon doesn't mean he understands women, quite the contrary. Now, let's just let Gracie have her moment…" she trailed off, picking up the house phone beside her hand. She arched her eyebrows. "Speak of the devil."

Eric plunked down beside her desk. "That him?"

The devil shall appear, in more ways that one, she thought, answering. "Hey Tim," she said, setting the phone down on speaker. "You've got Coach here too. What's going on?"

"Wanted to let you know that when you come in we're having a party on Saturday. You gonna' be there?"

They both glanced at each other. "Sure," she said. She frowned. "What's this party for or are we just so VIP that we get our own party when we come to town?"

They all had a little laugh, but Tim sobered up quickly. "Well it's kind of a big deal, but it's just…a party, I guess…Buddy's throwing it." He paused. "For me." He sighed. "I kind of got a real life job…the articles of incorporation got signed. Made my first dollar." He seemed to smile through the phone. "First few thousand dollars actually."

Well I'll be damned, she thought, her eyes widening as Eric laughed out loud. It must have been his construction business he'd been tinkering with for the past couple of years. "Well congratulations son. We'll be there for sure. Anyone else we know?"

"Uh, yeah. Everyone…um, dunno about your side but I know Tyra and my brother and stuff…um, Lyla…" he mumbled. "Lyla Garrity and her family…that sort of a thing."

She frowned. "Lyla?"

"Yeah. Long story. We're friends. Jason's gotta' be in Dallas but he might come by if he can. Anyways, you're coming?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Eric said, arching an eyebrow when Tim made some offhand comment about how Tyra couldn't wait to see them. He mouthed 'He's with Tyra?' She shrugged. Hell if she knew. Only girl she knew Riggins was sort of dating was her damn six-year old daughter and that was only in Gracie's head. Besides, they needed to mention this thing. She poked Eric with her pen, tapping the photo of Gracie she kept on her desk, reminding him. He sighed. "Oh Tim, um…can you hang around for a second?"

"Sure?"

This was going to be awkward. She bit her lip as Eric gave her a look, cocking his head and then shook it quickly. It had to be done. No one said it would be easy. She sighed again. She spoke, summing it up as quickly as she could speak in one deep breath. "Tim, you know how Gracie has this crush on you? Can you let her down easy? I don't want her to get hurt. She's six, she…believes in fairytales but…I just don't want her to get hurt. I think we've let it go so far she won't grow out of it."

There was silence on the other end of the phone. Eric frowned, leaning forward. "Tim? You still there?"

"Yeah."

"Well?" she asked.

There was slight hesitation and then Tim cleared his throat. "You want me to…to let down…a six-year old…easy? Like…like break up with her?"

"Yes, exactly," Tami said, grinning.

There was more silence. Eric repeated Tim's name again. Come on honey, what's making you go silent so much, she thought, rolling her eyes slightly. Tim sighed. "Yeah I'm still here. Fine. I'll break up with a six-year old. Have to say that this is really weird."

"Well we know, but don't refer to it as that. Just…tell Gracie you're otherwise engaged and you think she's sweet and all that. You'll figure it out sweetie. Congratulations again, we're so proud of you."

"Thanks," he mumbled.

They hung up a moment later. She squinted at Eric. "You didn't know about his business?"

He grew defensive, scowling. "Well we don't talk every day." She arched an eyebrow. Seemed like they did.

She was about to say so when his eyes darted towards the doorway. They both glanced at Gracie, who wandered into the room then, holding the mail. She sighed. "Gracie. You have got to stop getting the mail sweetie, I don't like you going into the front yard without one of us there." She took the stack from her, nodding to the living room. "Go have your TV hour."

"Whoop!" Gracie exclaimed, cartwheeling out of the room.

She picked up a large envelope, frowning at it. "What's this?"

"What do I have X-Ray vision? Open it."

"It's from Buddy Garrity of all people," she mumbled, seeing the neat handwriting in the upper corner with the new address of Buddy's mansion in Dillon. Courtesy of franchising the bar, he now had a business manager he paid to conduct all his transactions, lest he get into a strip club incident again. She pulled out a card with a photo of Tim's house on it and a sign out front proclaiming Thirty-Three Construction, Inc. "Oh how nice," she said, turning it over and seeing neat text requesting they attend the 'launch party.' She looked at Eric, flicking it around and tapped the bottom. "RSVP to Lyla Garrity. Interesting."

"Don't get started," he said, pointing at her and chuckling. What, she thought, cocking her head innocently. He laughed again. "Tami Taylor I love you and I know you like the back of my hand, you are not getting involved in these kids lives again. We left them and they are adults. She's a friend I'm sure."

"I'm sure." It's just interesting is all, she thought, pursing her lips. She wanted to know more, she could probably call Julie. She shrugged, smiling. "Hey, even if it's with Lyla or Tyra or some other poor unsuspecting Dillon female, at least it makes it easier to let down Gracie."

"That's all you," Eric said, leaning over and kissing her quickly. "I'm going to work on some plays. Watch some game tape."

"Dinner's at five," she drawled, setting the invitation in her binder so she could reply to the request officially and mark it on the Calendar. She tapped her fingertips to her lip, looking over at Gracie through the doorway to the living room, dancing around to her sing-along show. This should all be interesting. She blew out a hard breath, her bangs falling over her forehead to the side and picked up another report, leaning back to scan it.


	3. The Competition

**3. The Competition**

I am not amused, Tami thought, holding her glass of iced tea to her lips and witnessing Gracie attempt to woo Tim Riggins. Or so she believed, as Gracie had requested she wear her most expensive and prettiest party dress, which had tons of tulle underneath the skirt. It was stupid to wear on a Texas homestead, but unlike last time, Tami had thought to pack a change of clothes in the car for her. Of course maybe Gracie was trying to recreate when she first fell for him, Tami had no idea.

She squinted as Tim smiled down at Gracie, but he was trying to talk with Luke. Damnit, she thought, sighing and lifting the glass back to her lips. "Damn," she grumbled. Whatever he'd said to her last week wasn't working.

"Are you alright Mrs. Taylor?" a soft voice asked behind her.

She turned around, smiling warmly at Lyla Garrity, who was setting out another platter of vegetables. "I'm find sweetheart, I'm so sorry, I should be helping, what can I do?" she asked, setting her glass aside. Manual labor might actually get her mind off of whatever embarrassing debacle her six-year old would fall into shortly.

Lyla waved her hand, smiling. "Don't worry about it, I wanted to have caterers so I could avoid doing this, but Tim said it was my party so oh well." She rearranged the setup of the plates and napkins, cleaning up the layout.

"Your party?" Tami laughed.

"I heard about the articles of incorporation and I felt it was something to be commemorated so I invited a few people and now it's this," Lyla said, gesturing to the back of the house, which consisted of half of Dillon. She smirked. "He doesn't realize that most of this town wanted him to succeed in their own twisted way. Half are probably hear to see if he screws up something or gets drunk enough to give an embarrassing and funny speech for YouTube."

Tami smiled, but she grit her teeth, speaking through the smile. "He's not giving a speech, right?"

"Hell no."

"Oh thank God."

Lyla placed her hands on her hips, frowning out past most of the people. "What's he doing?"

"Talking with Tyra." She looked over her shoulder. "That's not a concern, is it?"

"Hardly. But that's not what I'm talking about." She gestured towards Tim, who was now talking with Gracie, stepping away from her as she moved closer, trying to show him something in her hand. She wasn't sure what Gracie had, but it was best that if Tim was backing away from her, it probably had something to do with the 'Crush.'

Tami knew Tim could handle it. She smiled again. "My daughter as a bit of a crush on Tim."

Lyla arched an eyebrow, her lip quirking up. "Seriously?"

"As a heart attack," she drawled.

The other woman laughed, patting her shoulder and reached for a case of beer underneath the tablecloth draped table, carrying it towards the massive cooler a few feet away. "Mrs. Taylor, it's okay." She grinned, shrugging. "We've all been there. Right of passage for any girl in Dillon."

And that's what I'm afraid of, poor little Gracie is going to get hurt, she thought. It was silly of her to think like this, but her daughter had poured everything into this little crush and she was seeing stars and fairytales the way little girls saw them. She was tough, Tami wasn't protective of her like that, Gracie could handle herself, but…her heart was a bit of mush when it came to things like this. "Yeah," she murmured, finishing off her tea.

"Mrs. T."

"Tyra," she exclaimed. She hadn't gotten near enough time to spend with her favorite student. She wrapped her arms around her third daughter, as Eric had called Tyra when they'd attended her graduation from UT last year. "How are you? Where've you been all afternoon, huh?"

Tyra tossed her hair, dark brown with fading streaks of purple on the tips, and smiled happily. "I have been convincing Stevie that Gracie is out of his league, for your own protection of course. He's got a bit of a crush on Lyla and it's freaking Mindy out to no end."

She snorted. "What is it with little kids and crushes, huh? I have no idea what I did with mine, just that I know I fell in love with every boy that came along in my kindergarten class. Until I wised up of course."

"I only liked one guy," Tyra said, waving at Tim, who immediately turned away. She sighed, mumbling down at her feet. "Screwed that one up."

And you mean what by that, Tami wondered, her eyebrow arching again. She figured this would happen now that they were back. Teenage drama for the mid-twenties set. "Julie should be arriving soon," she said. Maybe I can get the info from her, she was silently threatening. "I haven't spoken with her in a few days…."

Ha, she thought like saying, when Tyra groaned, finally turning around to face her. "I don't know what Julie told you, but I don't want to get into it right now. Tim and I dated briefly, we hooked up now and then, and I decided to end things completely and he's mad at me. That's why."

She wrinkled her nose. "Tim should know you're not staying in Dillon forever."

"Yeah," Tyra said, smiling sarcastically. She smirked. "That's exactly what he should know, but he refuses. It just bites him in the ass. So, I broke his heart. That's about it. He did it to me and now I did it to him. We're even. Besides, I'm seeing someone in Austin. Law student."

"Well where is he?"

"Figured it'd be awkward to bring him around with two of my ex-boyfriends in attendance," Tyra said.

"Two?" Tyra nodded to the side of the house, where Tami turned and followed her gaze. Landry had appeared and Mindy was all over him like white on rice. Tyra groaned. "Mindy thinks we need a second shot. Or she just wants someone to fix the plumbing in the house."

"Why can't Tim do it?"

"She doesn't trust a Riggins with power tools."

Rightfully so. Tami waved at Landry, who waved at her and then frowned a bit at Tyra, but walked away to play with the nephews, who were with a ton of other little kids playing along the sloping hill. They were rolling down it. They were going to roll right into a snakepit, she thought, shaking her head, amused. She chuckled, smiling sideways at Tyra. "Well at least your professional life is successful," she said, trying to make the girl feel better.

It had the desired effect, Tyra grinning. "Thanks Mrs. T. When's Julie coming again?"

"Should be soon," she said, glancing at her phone. She set it back in her pocket. She hated holding it at parties. Made her feel like an idiot. She dropped her empty cup in a trash bin, wandering down towards Eric, who was engaged in heated conversation with Buddy and Billy. She didn't like the earnest expressions on the two Dillon Panthers organizers. "What's going on here guys? Anything I can contribute?"

"Your glowing presence," Buddy said, beginning to flatter her. Shit, she thought, rolling her eyes behind his back when he turned to Billy. This was about the coaching gig. HE turned back. "You know Tami, we have an excellent higher education facility…"

"Dillon Tech is a two-year technical college and preparatory school, not a higher education facility the way that Braymore is, not that anything is wrong with having either types of education," she said, already knowing where he was going with this.

Thank God Lyla popped over. "Daddy, come over and help with the cake."

"But sweetheart…"

"Now!"

Tami pulled Eric away from Billy, whose wife came up to grab him. She found Tim in the melee with the kids, laughing at something one of his nephews was saying, the toddler attached at his hip. "Where's Gracie?" she asked, unable to spot her towheaded daughter.

"Somewhere in there," Eric said. He kissed her temple. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

"You owe me."

"Thank God you came when you did, I was about to say yes. That's what's so terrifying, how I'm just giving in to what Buddy wants because I know it will be easier."

"And that's how he knows how to get you," Tami chirped. We need to avoid that in the future. She wondered now and then if they'd end up in Dillon again, but not now. It wasn't time now. She frowned again, still unable to see Gracie. "Where is she? This is weird. Usually she doesn't go far."

"Tim has a dog, you know how she is with dogs."

"He has a dog?"

"Well it's Lyla's dog, but I guess he keeps it at his house because of the land." Eric pointed towards a basset hound wandering around sniffing up food at people's feet. "There he is. Homer."

"And Gracie is nowhere." She patted his shoulder. "I'm going to check inside. Maybe she went to the bathroom." She would just feel better knowing her location, that's all. She went up to the house and inside. It was so beautiful. Tim had done such a good job. She wandered into the office, sidetracked by some of the pictures he had up. She picked one off the wall, smiling at it. "So weird," she murmured.

"It started as community service," Lyla said, appearing behind her. She leaned against the doorway, smiling. She shrugged. "He called me when he found out it would help with lowering his probation time. I told him to find a program. He found that and a couple other things."

I'll say, Tami thought, setting the picture of Tim with a group of children on a football field, all the kids exhibiting some sort of physical or mental disability, but all of them smiling wide, just as Tim was. It was weird for her to see. She looked at another. "He was a firefighter?" she asked, turning to look at Lyla.

"Volunteer, but yeah, he put out a couple of incidents. I think it's the pyro inside of him," she laughed. She shrugged. "Knocked his probation down. He started the business and here he is."

"Here he is."

"Damnit!" Both of them turned instantly, surprised at the loud curse. Tyra appeared in the doorway, holding her purse. "I have no idea what the hell happened, but there's like…someone put food in here or something! God, my nephews are ridiculous, they think this crap is funny…this is vintage Prada!"

"You put it around five-year olds," Lyla retorted, not sympathetic.

"Shut up Saint."

It was obviously something with both of them. Tami didn't want to get involved, until she saw a piece of construction paper sticking out. She sighed, her heart sinking. She reached over and plucked it from Tyra's purse. She flicked it open, staring at the intensely familiar handwriting in purple crayon. She turned it to Tyra, who took it, frowning. Lyla read over Tyra's shoulder, standing on her tip-toes. "Go Away! Or else." She pointed. "Else is spelled incorrectly. So is away."

"I didn't know you were so bothered by me Garrity that you resorted to this type of childish behavior," Tyra snapped, smirking. She wiggled the paper at her. "And to blame a child as well, for shame, Saint Garrity, for shame."

Lyla smirked right back. "I wouldn't put food in your purse Tyra, I'd just tell you to get away to your face." She took the paper, waving it. "This is not me, for obvious reasons." She shrugged. "But I don't know who would do this outside of one of the kids and even then I don't know. Which one did you piss off?"

No, it's not just one of the kids, Tami thought, closing her eyes. She shook her head. I cannot believe she'd do this. Except she kind of could. She'd gotten intensely protective over Tim and didn't like that they were taking her pictures and putting them on the wall instead of in envelopes for him. Or that she wasn't getting what she wanted. She was jealous. "I didn't think she had it in her," she thought, not sure she liked that Gracie even went to doing this. It was childish. It was impulsive. It was mean and she didn't like it. Over something as stupid as a crush on a grown man. Something Gracie had to realize was wrong. "It's not just one of the kids."

Tyra and Lyla both looked at her. "Who is it?" Tyra asked.

"Mine," she growled. She had no idea how to do this. For one, she couldn't even find Gracie. For another, she had to talk to Eric. Convince him that this was serious now. And she had to tell Tim. I just wanted a bit of a break, she thought, rubbing her face.

"Which one did it?" Tyra asked. "What are you talking about Mrs. T?"

Tami was about to say it was Gracie, when the front door opened, Julie exploding through the door. "Mom!" she exclaimed, running to her to give her a hug. "There you are! I thought we were meeting at the hotel?"

What? "No," she said, too bewildered at seeing her daughter to think clearly. She laughed, giving her a tight hug. "Oh baby, you're here! It's been since Christmas!" Entirely too long in her opinion, more than six months. She tried not to let herself get distracted from seeing Julie and Matt, she thought, her eyes lighting up at the sight of her beloved son-in-law, a feeling she never thought she'd have for Matt Saracen. "Matt, come give me a hug!"

Out of the corner of her eye, while hugging Matt, she saw a flash of pink tulle. Gracie Belle! "Um, Mrs…Mrs. Taylor…" Matt stammered. He still sometimes forgot after two years she was Tami or Mom, but it was endearing. "What's…"

"Gracie!" she barked.

More commotion happened when the door opened again, this time Jason wheeled himself in like he owned the place, shutting the door with the cord that was tied around the back. Tami blinked at it. She didn't notice that. Or the ramp outside. Or…she cocked her head, noticing that the doorways were a little wider. Son of a bitch Tim, she thought, shaking her head before she focused on Jason. "Mrs. Taylor!" Jason said, reaching to hug her.

"Yes hello Jason, good to see you," she said, hurrying through pleasantries. She stepped by him into the living room, but Gracie was gone and people were everywhere, greeting the newcomers. "Damn," she mumbled. She snagged Tim around his elbow, dragging him from going to see his best friend. Her teeth grit. "We need to talk about what you said to my daughter."

Tim sighed. "Mrs. Taylor, really? I didn't say anything to her! She's a kid!"

"She is a kid and she just threatened Tyra and put smashed brownies into her purse!"

Tim blinked before snorting, hiding a laugh behind his hand. "Serious…seriously?" he laughed again before trying to sober up, his hands going to his hips and shaking his head. "That's…that's not funny at all. Not at all Mrs. Taylor."

She squinted. "No laughing, Riggins, this is my six-year old we're talking about."

"And she's causing more drama than my actual girlfriend," Tim said, complaining.

Tami frowned again. "You have a girlfriend?"

"Yes, I do, not that I'm advertising it. Why?"

Because, she thought, pushing around him and grabbing Eric. "We have to talk."

"About what? I just saw Julie and Matt, Tami where are you taking me?" He stared at her as she led him to a treehouse, climbing up the ladder and into it. He called up. "You've lost your mind!"

She leaned over, shouting down. "And you're losing yours with me, come up here now, we need to talk about what to do with Gracie Belle when we find her."

"You still haven't found her?"

"Well she's not leaving Tim now is she? She's playing a game and I'm not playing it with her, get up here." I've lost my mind but this is my daughter and I've got to somehow teach her a lesson. She leaned back in the treehouse, waiting for him to sit down beside her, giving her an amused look and trying hard not to laugh or smile. She sighed hard. "Okay, we need to talk about Gracie. She just gave Tyra a note saying to go away or else and hse put food in her purse."

Eric frowned. "That's not like Gracie."

"I know it's not, this crush has gotten entirely out of control and she's now jealous! Eric we have to do something!"

"You're seriously saying we need to protect Riggins and Tyra from a six-year old on the loose?"

Tami hung her head in her hands. "Not really. I'm just…we need to figure out how to punish her." She didn't like thinking like that. She didn't like punishing Gracie but sometimes it needed to be done when she had to learn a lesson. How did she do it with Julie? Timeouts usually. Those didn't work on Gracie. She had endless patience. She propped her chin on her hand, closing her eyes and thinking.

Until Eric said it first, once she had an idea. He was already on it. "Tami we need to let her get hurt," he said. She nodded. She didn't like it at all. He sighed. "She's six, she's gotta' learn the hard way now, since she isn't listening. And that stunt with Tyra? Well she's going to apologize and she's going to clean her damn handbag."

"Yeah," she murmured. She crawled over and leaned her head against his shoulder, her hand going into his. She squeezed it tight, staring out the treehouse window. "This is so stupid. I can't even believe it's happening."

"Tell Julie, she'll turn it into a short story. She's trying to get into The New Yorker."

She snorted, crawling over him to the doorway. "It'll have to be fiction. No one on earth would ever believe this is happening." Now if you excuse me, she felt like saying, her feet landing on the ground. She turned around and tugged at the hem of her shirt, marching to the house to locate the terror that had become Gracie Belle. I have a daughter to find. A daughter who was in serious need of a Tami Taylor Talking To.


	4. The Talk

**A/N: **There is one more short chapter, returning to Tami POV. This one is the only Tim POV. I was writing it from Tami's and then figured it would be better in Tim's. Since I don't think I'm quite ready to tackle a six-year old Gracie's POV, although maybe that WILL be the next chapter, haha. Enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong><span>4. The Talk<span>**

"Oh for the love of God."

"I thought you didn't take the Lord's name in vain Garrity!"

"Shut up, this is all your fault a little girl is missing." Lyla opened up the washer, peering inside before closing it. She turned in the small closet-size laundry room off of the mudroom next to the kitchen. She scowled, her hands on her hips, which he thought were looking very nice encased in a sundress with little tiny roses on it. She looked like a Sunday School teacher. Her finger jammed into his chest again. "Your fault."

He glanced at the washer and turned around, following her out of the laundry room. "Why were you looking in the washer?"

"Remember Stevie two years ago?"

"Oh shit yeah." That game of hide and seek had taken forever. He trailed after her into the kitchen, smiling tightly at a few Boosters Buddy had invited. He hated all these people tromping through his house. He stopped in the living room, as she rummaged in a storage ottoman. He didn't understand all the big deal going on about Gracie. "She's five, Garrity."

"And she's impressionable and clearly she's one of the many who has taken her crush on you far too seriously and is letting it ruin her life, Mrs. Taylor is freaking out and we are going to find her, but we're not going to let everyone at the party know," Lyla said, relaying the message he'd already gotten from Tyra and he'd already gotten from Coach. She hurled a couch cushion at him. "Help me look for her."

He glanced at her ass and then shrugged when she spun around, throwing another cushion at him. He laughed. "What? It's there."

"You have a girlfriend."

"No I don't."

She wrinkled her nose, peering at him oddly, her brow furrowed to a point. "I thought you had a girlfriend."

A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. It was a little trick he'd come up with lately. Lying. Who knew? He'd always lied about not having a girlfriend in the past. This time it was working in his favor to say he did. "Who is to say what is a girlfriend and what is not?" he said, waxing philosophic. He threw the cushion at her again. This was insane. He left the living room and went onto the back porch, where Coach was getting another bottle of beer. "Can I get you a glass for that Coach?"

"Bottle's fine, thanks Tim." Eric released a long sigh, gesturing towards his wife with the bottle. "Sorry about Tami. She's gotten on this whole thing about Gracie. I'm sorry about that to by the way, I really don't know what's gotten into her and how she's been messing up things around here today. I promise she will be dealt with." He paused, shrugging. "I just don't know how, she's a very independent little girl. Wouldn't want that to go away."

"No," Tim agreed. He didn't have nieces. He'd only ever been around girls when he was…well he didn't know anything about them even if he liked to think he had a bit of an education on the subject. He leaned against the porch railing, cocking his head at Coach. "What started it?" This seemed to come out of nowhere for him. All of a sudden he was getting pictures from Gracie. A birthday card had been cute. Then she'd started calling him. Like a mini-stalker.

Eric shook his head again. "You were nice to her. She…well she doesn't have siblings."

"She has Julie." In fact, Julie had been asking about her little sister earlier, which unfortunately forced Tami to admit Gracie had gone MIA from the party. Tim wasn't that concerned. His land was wide enough that they'd notice her if she left the house and the house had a bunch of nooks and crannies, which he'd done on purpose. Made for epic hide and seek games with his nephews.

He waved his hand. "Not the same. They're sixteen years apart. Julie is going to have children before Gracie's in high school." He pressed his hand to his chest, almost praying for a second. "God I hope not."

Tim smiled a little. Seven having kids? Pretty funny. He glanced into the yard, watching Jason and Matt talk. He glanced to Coach again. "So Gracie and her crush? This seems serious. She's threatening Tyra? Why would she do that?"

"Who the hell knows?" Eric ran his hand through his hair. "Tami is asking the kids. I think Lyla was looking in the fridge, God forbid Gracie finds her way there. She just…she's a little girl Tim and I think she's very confused about things. I'm sorry it's kind of gotten you involved like this."

It wasn't that big of a deal. It was kind of funny, but he knew he shouldn't find it funny. Gracie was cute, he liked her fine. Remembered when she was a baby. He liked babies. They were cute. That was about all his feelings went towards them. He tended to like them until they got sick or crapped their diaper. Then it was all back to the parents, in his case Billy and Mindy. He frowned a little. "Huh," he muttered. He looked up at the ceiling. He cocked his head a little, a thought passing through him. "Hmm…"

"What?"

He looked sideways again. "Does Gracie like hide and seek?"

"The smaller the space, the better. She crams herself into an alcove in her closet. Why?" Eric asked. He smiled a little. "You know where she might be?" His smile faded and he grew a concerned look that Tim had witnessed on his brother many times before. "Please be careful with her Tim. I know you don't have nieces, but one day you may have daughters and I want you to know that while they are the strongest people you may ever know, Gracie is still five and she still doesn't understand things, which is why we're in this mess. Please be careful."

As soon as he said those words, Tami appeared at his side. "She's not on the land or in the shed and Lyla said she wasn't in the house anywhere." She looked at him. Her eyes widened. "You know where she is, don't you?"

I might know where she is. He reached over and lightly touched Mrs. Taylor's elbow. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about it."

"Tim, please…I'm so sorry about this, but just…" Tami sighed hard. It must be difficult, he thought, knowing your kid was in a place where they had no idea what was going on. "This has gotten completely out of hand. Maybe it's my fault, but who the hell knows anymore. Just…tell me." Her eyes widened again. "I'll go talk to her."

I think I need to talk to her at this point, Tim thought, breaking away to let Coach handle Mrs. Taylor. He walked over to the steps, Lyla halfway in the closet. He pulled at the sash of her dress, forcing her to straighten up. He pointed his finger up the stairs, silent. The door to the guest bedroom at the top of the stairs was open. Lyla nodded, smiling quickly. "Good luck," she said.

Tyra appeared at his side a second later. She leaned on the banister, scowling. "Tell her that she can repay me by helping me clean out my bag."

"I think her parents have a bit more in mind for her punishment." He leaned on the banister, peering down at her. Talk about crushes. They seemed to go in a cycle of them. He frowned a little. "What did you say to get her so mad?"

His ex-girlfriend took a deep breath, her dark eyes focused on his. This was hard for them both. Lyla made a little sound and disappeared behind a wall. He'd deal with her later. She looked down at her hands and then tucked her hair behind her ear, looking everywhere but him as she found the words. "I think she…well she has a crush on you, this is known, um….I think she heard me say that I broke your heart." A tight smile appeared. It looked painful for her. "I'm sorry about that."

He nodded. It wasn't what he'd call it. Just…coming to another painful realization about where he stood and where the people he loved stood. He patted her hand, squeezing it. "Yeah. I'm sorry too." He took a deep breath. "I'll see you in a few." Armed with that knowledge, which now put Gracie's behavior into perspective, he went up the stairs and to the guest room, lightly pushing open the door.

On the corner of the bed was a little bag, crayons and paper spilling out. He lifted up a large piece of construction paper, with what he imagined was him and Gracie on it, but it was unfinished. He took the crayons and stood in front of his closet, trying not to look at the side of it, the doors wide open. This is it Riggins. Time to tap into your inner feminine side. "I think I need to finish this artwork, but…I need someone to help me." He paused. There was a light squeak from inside the closet. He smiled; there you are… "And I think Gracie can help me."

There was an alcove hidden in the side of the closet. The door to it creaked open and she peered out, her blonde hair askew from its ponytail and dust streaking her cheek. The edge of her skirt hem was torn. "Oh?"

"Yup." Tim closed the door and sat down on the floor, his back to the wall. He dumped the crayons on the floor and set the paper down, tapping his fingerstips to it. "Come on, let's finish this."

Gracie crawled over, sitting on her heels. She sniffed. Her bright blue eyes were filled with tears. "I'm sorry," she said, her lower lip jutting out.

The look did something to Tim. He'd never felt it before. Not once with his nephews. Or with any other person he'd been around. Oh my God, he thought, his eyes widened and mouth falling open slightly. It physically hurt. He felt kind of winded, seeing her istting there all sad. "Gracie," he whispered, reaching for her. She crawled towards him and gave him a hug. He warmed all the way to his heart, smiling a little. This must have been what Coach meant. He pulled back, smiling down at her and wiped at her cheek with his thumb. Hell…he didn't know what he was doing, but he just smiled. Maybe that's all she needed was someone to be nice to her. "It's okay, I mean…we can figure it out."

She nodded and pulled away, taking a crayon. "I have to finish the picture."

He watched her draw, struck by how naïve she was. How innocent. He crossed his ankles and cleared his throat. "Um…Gracie why did you do that to Tyra?"

"Because she was mean to you."

Well okay. "Um…but Tyra's my friend."

"And she was mean to you." Gracie looked up at him shrewdly through her blonde bangs. She gave him a 'duh' look after antoher second. "It's not nice to be mean to people."

Oh man you little hypocrite, he thought, smiling back at her. "And you were mean to Tyra," he replied.

That seemed to sit with her for a second. She shrugged and returned to her picture. "I'm sorry."

"Don't tell me, tell her Short Stuff."

"That's mean, don't call me that. My name is Gracie."

"I don't call anyone by their real names."

"Well that's mean." You have a very odd definition of that word, he thought, arching an eyebrow. He picked up a crayon and moved to lie on his stomach so he could reach the paper, starting to draw a sun in the corner of the page. He waited a second while she drew a barn and then he picked up a brown crayon, starting to draw another person. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Drawing."

"Who?"

"My girlfriend."

Gracie gave him a horrified look. "But…but I…" she flushed pink and grabbed a crayon, furiously coloring in the lines of the barn she finished drawing. She stopped and then looked at him, her cheeks bright pink. "But I…that's not…I love you too."

He looked up, smiling innocently. "But Gracie…that's…" Shit. I am going to kill Coach and Mrs. Taylor for this. Honestly. He sat back up, crossing his arms over his chest. "Gracie you can like me fine. We can be friends. I like you, but…but you're six."

"And I'll be seven."

"And I'll be twenty-seven," he said, trying to smile at her. That wasn't really true. He was going to be 25 in a few months. He felt terrible for this. He didn't like hurting her, but it had to be done. He picked up another crayon. "You know…I got you that new shirt and the panther toy to make you feel better because we're friends. Because we're family."

Gracie blinked up at him. "Family?"

I don't know where that came from, but it at least got her attention and she wasn't ignoring him. He took a deep breath. Coach would kill him. They'd just kill each other. "We're family," he said quietly. "Your dad is like…" He felt his cheeks warm. He'd never admit this to anyone but her. And that was because she was six. "I…I don't have a dad, okay?"

"Where did he go?"

"He went away. Far away."

"He doesn't love you?"

The way little kids said things…they freaking stung. Tim nodded, his voice quiet. "He doesn't…he does, but…not he way he should, um…never mind, but…you see, I don't have a dad and your dad kind of acted like it. So that makes me like your big brother." I can get away with this, can't I? He smiled again, his voice quiet. "And all I have is a brother. And I have nephews. You have a sister."

Gracie shrugged, blowing Julie off. "She doesn't live with me."

"And my brother doesn't live with me."

"Can I live with you?"

We're getting off topic. "No, because you live with your mom and dad in Philly. I live in Texas and I'm not moving." He went back to the original discussion, hoping like hell he wouldn't screw it up. It was the only way he could think, suddenly popping into his head, how to explain this to her. "So…so I can be your big brother if you can be my little sister…and that means no being mean to Tyra because you think she was mean to me and…and no more hurting other people, okay?"

Gracie sat up and looked straight at him. He'd never seen a little kid with such determination on her face before. She flushed pink and nodded quickly, her voice soft. "I'm sorry."

You don't know what's going on, he thought. Hell I don't know what's going on most days. He set the crayon down and offered his hand. "Can we shake on this? You can keep sending me things but maybe not with a ton of hearts all over them okay? We can be brother and sister. How's that?"

It muddled through her little kid mind for a moment and finally she nodded, smiling softly. It was super cute, he thought, grinning. She nodded and shook his hand. "Okay. Can I still give you a hug?"

"Sure thing Short Stuff."

"Hey!"

"Too bad, you're in the family, you get a name," he teased, giving her another hug. That wasn't so bad, he thought, pushing up to his feet. He took her hand and she immediately pulled back, hiding behind his knee when the door opened. Tami stepped inside. He glanced down at her and quirked his lip. "Sorry kiddo, but you left a big mess for your mom and you gotta' deal with it now. Own up."

Gracie peered behind his knee at Tami. "I'm sorry," she barely whispered.

"Oh you will be, but right now I think all your momma needs is a hug," Tami said, kneeling to hold her arms out for Gracie. She lifted her up and carried her out of the room. Thank God that was over, Tim thought, exhaling hard. He felt exhausted. Damn. And he didn't completely screw it up. She patted his elbow. "You did a good job Tim, thank you."

Gracie turned her head around to look at Eric when they reached the bottom of the stairs. "Tim is my brother," she said. She smiled proudly. "And you're his daddy too!"

Oh shit. Tim's eyes expanded and he got a deer-in-the-headlights look as Eric rotated his curious gaze towards him, not amused. What do you do now Riggins? He chuckled, waving his hand. "Kids. Crazy. Hey Coach you want a beer?"

"Riggins don't you go anywhere."

He froze. Shit. I'm dead. I'm a dead man. He remained in place while Eric came to stand beside him. After a quiet moment, Eric patted his shoulder. "Thank you son. I appreciate it." He walked by him and stopped. Tim didn't move. Maybe this was why the panther struck. A smile crossed Eric's lips, crooked. His eyes crinkled up and he chuckled, his hands going to his hips. "Oh Tim…you are so screwed one day son."

Screwed? Are you going to put a hit on me or something? "Oh?" he questioned. He'd find out sooner or later.

"Oh yeah. It's always the toughest men that are easiest for them to wrap around their finger and I'm sensing karma owes you for all your so-called knowledge of women."

What in the world was he talking about? Tim was thoroughly confused. Thankfully Lyla walked into the room. "I saw Mrs. Taylor, Coach, I'm glad Gracie is safe and sound." She blinked at him. "What?"

Eric laughed, gesturing towards him again. "Tell Tim that karma is going to get him."

"Oh I know it will sir." Lyla waited for Eric to walk away, laughing his ass off like this was the funniest thing in the world. She looked up, bewildered. "What's that about?"

"He thinks karma will get me for all my lack of women knowledge or something, what do you think that means?" he asked. Garrity should know. She knew everything.

Lyla sighed, patting his chest. "Oh Tim…dear…it means…" she trailed off, tossing her curls over her shoulder and grinning up at him. "It means you are going to only ever have daughters, I am quite sure of it." What!? He gaped and she grinned. "Good luck with that, I'm not going to be around to see it." She walked by, laughing to herself. Tim turned, watching after her for a moment, his lips pursed. Oh we'll see, he thought, finally looking down at his side when tiny footsteps approached.

Gracie looked up at him, her face a bit cleaner from a moment before. "Can we play outside?" she asked.

"Sure thing. We'll get my nephews and Stevie. I think you'll like him."

"I don't like boys."

"But I was a boy."

"Well not anymore, I don't like boys anymore. I liked you, that was it." She scratched at her ponytail, which was still falling out of its hairtie. She sniffed and looked up again. "Can we play hide and seek?"

Oh kid I think you're done with hide and seek for awhile. He looked out over the backyard, seeing Tami come up beside him. He knelt to Gracie's height, pointing out. "You see out there?"

"Yeah."

"You're going to help Tim get someone to get a crush on him."

"I am?"

"Yes, but first, why don't you go play with Stevie and I talk to your mom?"

"Okay."

"Okay." Tim waited for her to be out of earshot before he turned around to face Tami. He quirked his lip. "I didn't hurt her, did I?"

"No, you didn't," Tami said. She reached up and gave him a hug. He returned it, squeezing tight. He really loved her. More than he thought he did, until they moved away. Then he really realized it. She pulled back and kissed his cheek, patting his chest. "You're a sweetheart, Tim. I really appreciate your good sense of humor during all of this and…and thank you for being nice to my daughter." She laughed. "God, I feared Julie getting a crush on you, who would have thought I'd have to worry about my youngest?"

He smiled with her. Yeah, seriously. He glanced at Matt and Julie. "Yeah, well…your daughter had better taste. You got a good guy out of it all."

Tami nodded. "We did." She looked up at him again, smirking. "So sweetheart, your girlfriend? You weren't telling me the truth there, were you?"

No, I wasn't. He merely smiled and shrugged. "It's okay. I've got my eye on someone. Gracie is going to help me."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. We'll see how it turns out." He snagged his nephew, running by him. Stevie looked up, silently questioning why he'd been stopped. He looked down at him. "Hey, you crushing on Ms. Garrity? I hear you have a thing for her."

Stevie turned pink. "No!"

"Hands off."

"Why?"

"She's mine."

Stevie glared up at him. He laughed. "Oh yeah? Fight me for her old man." He punched at his elbow and whooped, jumping into the air. "We duel! Like knights!"

Oh geez. I really started something here. He glanced at Tami, who was just watching, highly amused. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing, I'm just laughing at the differences between little girls and little boys sometimes." She gestured towards the backyard, where Stevie was grabbing for two large sticks. "Go dual your nephew."

Damn, he thought, hopping off the porch with another hug and kiss from Tami. She called it his good luck. He jumped off the porch and ran over to Gracie, whispering to her. "Between you and me, I'm thinking Stevie probably shouldn't be your next crush."

"Okay," Gracie agreed. She gave him another hug. "I love you Tim."

He felt his heart melt a little more. Maybe this was good for him. "Me too kid."


End file.
